


Dear Professor Lupin

by A Bean (A_Bean)



Series: Letters to the Lupins [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: And McGonagall the same, Hermione be out here just, Hermione is a wonderful liar, I love Remus Lupin, I would die for Remus Lupin, Inventing new spells, Mild Angst, Mild book 3 and 4 AU, Not Beta Read, Snape is there too but he don't have any speaking lines, We Die Like Men, he needs some self esteem, like the boss ass bitch she is, wolfstar if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:54:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24673441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Bean/pseuds/A%20Bean
Summary: It comes to the attention of the students of Hogwarts that their favorite werewolf is in need of a boost of self-esteem after he receives an unfriendly Howler at breakfast one morning.
Relationships: Hermione Granger & Harry Potter & Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger & Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin & Harry Potter, Sirius Black & Harry Potter
Series: Letters to the Lupins [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1783966
Comments: 16
Kudos: 124





	Dear Professor Lupin

Coming back for his fourth year at Hogwarts, Harry couldn't have been happier to see that his efforts of trying to convince Lupin to stay at Hogwarts as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had worked. It had taken lots of begging and pleading as the last school year had ended as well as Sirius throwing in his thoughts for Lupin to even consider it. Over the summer, it had taken the combined forces of Harry, Ron, and Hermione's letters- written every single day without fail to both Lupin and Dumbledore- for them to finally get an answer.

Dumbledore had written them all in one letter since they'd all chosen to go to the Quidditch World Cup that year, saying that he and Lupin had come to an 'agreement', and if the three of them could please stop writing him letters that would litter confetti all over his office unless he opened and read them, that would be wonderful.

Harry considered it a victory and pestered Lupin for answers, but all he got were vague things like, 'school is on again in literally two weeks you'll find out just be patient and stop putting dog treats in my letters because Sirius can smell them and they're not healthy for him when he's in human form.'

So, when school finally did go back into session, Harry was pleased to see Remus sitting tall at the table with the rest of the teachers. Snape was not pleased, but nobody was surprised about that, because Snape was not pleased about anything.

It wasn't for another week after everyone had gotten settled into the class routine that the first one came. 

It was at breakfast, because all mail is delivered at breakfast. Harry had gotten a package of cookies along with a bar of chocolate from Sirius ("Remus has way too much chocolate around here for my own good- I know he eats it because chocolate is bad for dogs, but that doesn't mean I want to eat it!") so Harry gave it to Cho Chang.

Along with the students receiving mail, the teachers did as well.

And as the owl bearing Remus' letter flew away, every eye in the Great Hall was trained on the steaming red letter, growing steadily in size as the words within threatened to be released. 

Remus had set down his knife and fork and was now eyeing his Howler with wariness. Snape looked positively gleeful. 

The werewolf had just set his hands on the letter when it exploded. 

_"A WEREWOLF, TEACHING MY CHILDREN? I THINK NOT! I DEMAND YOU RESIGN FROM YOUR POSITION OR I WILL BRING THIS TO THE HEADMASTER DUMBLEDORE AND THE MINISTER OF MAGIC HIMSELF!"_

The Howler- or at least its sender- clearly knew that Dumbledore did not attend breakfast, otherwise the old man may have already taken it on himself to fix the situation Remus found himself in. 

The letter went on yelling for another good minute before it announced clearly, "Sincerely, Karen Whitewarth." Then it dropped onto the table. 

The Great Hall sat in stunned silence as they watched for Remus' reaction. It was no secret even before the Howler that Remus was a werewolf and some children must have written home about the fact. Worried and angry parents were to be expected, but there was no need to go as far as verbally abusing the man. 

Remus sighed, pulling his wand out and Banishing the letter. Then he downed the rest of his pumpkin juice and, with a resigned air, said, "Well? Breakfast isn't going to eat itself."

Everyone slowly turned back to their food, chatter bubbling up amongst the students once more.

Harry watched as Remus left the Great Hall, feeling upset for his favorite teacher.

* * *

"It's no matter, Harry," Remus assured him later after DADA, pulling some bandages out from his desk. "I was expecting this quite sooner, actually."

"But it's my fault," Harry said. "If I hadn't convinced you to come back, you wouldn't have to deal with everyone. You said so yourself last year."

Remus smiled at him tiredly, tapping the role of gauze with his wand. It automatically began winding itself around his hands. "If you hadn't convinced me to come back, Sirius would still be demanding that I take him on walks. Besides, that letter was misinformed- the Minister of Magic already knows, as well as Dumbledore."

"Well, couldn't they do something about it?" Harry asked angrily, watching as Remus levitated some potions to alleviate the burns on his hands from the letter earlier in the morning.

"I'm afraid not, Harry," Remus said. "The people have a right to say what they like. Eventually they will stop and move on to yelling about other things." He looked at Harry's green eyes, finished with fixing his hands. "Everything will be alright."

A week later, Remus’ hands had started to heal completely, but students had stopped coming to breakfast, and the ones that _did_ come had taken to wearing earmuffs. Remus, for each and every red Howler he received, handled it remarkably well. The letter, once opened, would say its incredibly unkind words, end itself sometimes with a name and address for Remus to respond to, and sometimes with an unpleasant string of Muggle curses, and Remus would banish it and they'd all move on. 

It just bothered Harry- and a multitude of other students, he found out- that Remus looked so _resigned_ upon hearing the words. He never retaliated, and as far as Harry knew, he had yet to tell Dumbledore of the daily occurrences. 

"It's alright," Remus would say each time his favorite student asked him about it. "It's not like I don’t deserve to hear what they say about me anyway."

Harry hadn't eaten any pepper-flavored Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, but he was sure there was steam coming out of his nose. Later in a multi-house study hall, he brought the subject up to Ron and Hermione.

"He _what?_ He thinks he _deserves_ to be yelled at?" Hermione shouted angrily. While a few Ravenclaws shushed her, most everyone else that heard her exchanged whispers among themselves. Ducking her head down so she wouldn't be easily heard again, she repeated herself.

"It made me just as angry," Harry said. "He's a good teacher! If I could give him half the world I would."

"People are bloody idiots," Ron added in. "Hermione, isn't there a way to get rid of Howlers? Block them? Something?"

A pensive look came over Hermione as she thought about it. "There might be. And if there isn't I'm sure I could team up with some of the Ravenclaws and come up with something…"

Muttering to herself and scooting over to the table of Ravenclaws shamelessly eavesdropping on their conversation (who in the library wasn't? Near everyone liked Lupin, even the Slytherins who were whispering with the Hufflepuffs to their right), they instantly got planning.

Harry shook his head and continued his letter to Sirius.

* * *

Another two weeks later with incessant Howlers arriving for Lupin- he'd taken to casting a Silencing Charm around himself during breakfast so that students wouldn't get a poorly timed wake-up call- Hermione and the Ravenclaws had finally come up with something. 

"Professor Lupin," Hermione said a mite timidly just before double DADA with the Ravenclaws was ending, "I- Well, I had this idea for a spell, and I was wondering if I could get some help with it…?"

Lupin, the saint he was, smiled gently at her. "And what spell would that be, Miss Granger?"

"Just another way to defend against some hexes," she said quickly. The clock chimed, signaling class was over, but no one moved from their seats. Every student in the combined Gryffinclaw class knew what Hermione was up to and nobody wanted to miss it. "I, um, I got some of the Ravenclaws to help me with it. It's supposed to be a long distance and long-lasting charm- something you can cast on yourself and others before battle, and it's supposed to help keep away minor hexes and jinxes if they're cast on you from a distance."

"That certainly sounds interesting," Lupin said, surprised. "Ten points to both Ravenclaw and Gryffindor for inventing an entirely new spell."

"Well, the thing is, I don't know if it works yet," Hermione said, worrying her bottom lip. 

"Her acting is _fantastic,"_ Ron whispered to Harry. He nodded in agreement.

"All good spells will work in time," Lupin said placatingly. "Now, I do believe class is dismissed-"

"I was wondering if I could cast it on you," Hermione interrupted. "It's a harmless spell, obviously, it won't hurt you, and- and then if someone tried to hex you with something small then we'd know if it worked or not- and- and it's… just an idea," she finished lamely.

"Why me, and not another student?" Lupin asked, sounding a tad suspicious, holding his wand in front of himself like he was wary a bunch of fourth-year students were going to attack him.

"I- well, nobody wants to let me jinx them, and you're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, so I thought you would know how to handle the situation the best if something went wrong." Hermione's acting really was very good; she shifted on her feet back and forth just as she might have had this been a real spell. 

"Well…" Lupin paused to consider her reasons. "I suppose you're correct, and you could get in trouble for hexing another student, even if it is for research." He moved to the center of the room and spread his arms out. It looked like it took an effort to trust her. "Go ahead, Miss Granger."

She gave a shy smile as the students in the classroom suppressed a collective cheer. She raised her wand and stated clearly the spell.

_"Defendnat!"_

A white mist settled around Lupin's shoulders before disappearing. The look on his face showed he was suitably impressed. 

"Pure Latin, an interesting choice," he said. "How will I know if it works?"

"Well, theoretically, when someone hexes you, it should just stop the spell before the whole thing can reach you. So if Harry- he's in the back of the classroom- if he cast a hex on you, it shouldn't even reach you." Hermione nodded to the boy and Lupin gave his consent to be jinxed. Of course, everyone except Lupin knew that it wouldn't work, so Harry chose a jinx he knew Hermione knew the counter-curse to.

"I'm only going to use the Jelly-Legs curse, if you don't mind, Professor," Harry said. 

"Easy enough to deal with," Lupin said. "Give it your best shot, Harry."

 _"Locomotor wibbly!"_ Harry shouted. Lupin instantly crumbled to the ground as his legs gave way.

"Oh, no!" Hermione cried in what had to be real concern as Lupin sat up on his elbows. "Here- _locomotor stabilus."_

Lupin's legs returned to normal and he stood with the help of some concerned students. 

"I'm sorry, Professor," Hermione said, wringing her hands. "I suppose it still needs some work."

"That's quite alright, my dear," Lupin said reassuringly. "I expect you'll get it here very soon. Now, you all are going to be late for your next class- I suggest you hurry before the staircases change!"

As they left Lupin's classroom, a Ravenclaw muttered to Hermione, "Did it work?"

She gave a nearly imperceptible nod, grinning. The Ravenclaws were quick to pass it on to all the other Houses.

"You really are the brightest witch of your age, Hermione," Ron said once they were out of earshot of Lupin. "I couldn't have pulled it off like you did."

A faint blush covered her face. "I just hope it works tomorrow. It should; everyone I've tested it on has had it work for them, but you never know…"

"It'll work," Ron said confidently. "Don't worry."

Hermione nodded and they headed off to Charms with the Hufflepuffs, who were all equally delighted to hear that it worked. Later, Harry even heard some of the Slytherins saying how they looked forward to a quiet morning on Monday.

* * *

The weekend passed and Monday arrived. The owls came and none delivered anything for Lupin. It seemed as if the castle itself breathed a sigh of relief.

"Tell me again how it works, Hermione," a first-year Ravenclaw said admiringly as they sat across the three Gryffindors. Some Hufflepuffs even came closer to listen in, and soon enough there were people from each House wanting to know how Hermione had managed to keep the angry letters away.

(Breakfast was really the one time that students from different Houses dared to sit at other tables as the ones who insisted on staying away from other Houses did not come to breakfast in the Great Hall.)

"It's simple, really," she said, blushing a bit. "I just made it so that he wouldn't get any letters with words meant to hurt him unless it's extreme, need-to-know information."

"So if a letter comes to him cursing him out, he won't receive it?" Someone asked. “Howler or not?”

"That's basically how it goes, yes," Hermione said. "I'm glad it's worked; he looks relieved."

Indeed, up at the table, Lupin seemed to be especially cheerful. It seemed to affect everyone else's mood as well, conversations bubbling up without fear of being interrupted by Howler.

That is, until the end of breakfast.

A lone owl flew in, carrying the dreaded red envelope between its talons, and plopped it right in front of Lupin. Whispers broke out once more throughout the Hall, most of them being, "I thought you said it worked!"

"It did!" Hermione cried, whispering so as not to give herself away. "I swear it did!"

Remus, cheerful mood now gone, tore open the letter before the owl bearing it had even flown out of the room. 

" _DEAR PROFESSOR LUPIN,"_ it began, to everyone's astonishment, _"YOU ARE THE BEST TEACHER I HAVE EVER HAD AND I WANTED TO MAKE THAT CLEAR TO YOU. SINCERELY, A HUFFLEPUFF."_

The letter dropped and Lupin stared at it in shock for a good minute before pocketing it.

"Well, I, uh…" he tried. "Thank you. To… whoever sent that." He nodded towards the Hufflepuff table.

"…guess it did work, Hermione," someone said, breaking the silence. Chatter rose once more as students left for the classes for the day.

Lupin didn't mention the letter in the next Defense class, but his good mood had certainly returned.

* * *

"Literally when are these letters going to _stop,"_ a Slytherin boy complained at breakfast on Tuesday, surrounded by a myriad of students from all other houses. Another had just landed in front of Remus, and was in the process of steaming at the edges before Remus picked it up and opened it.

 _"DEAR PROFESSOR LUPIN,"_ it began again, but this time only to Remus' surprise, _"I'D LIKE YOU TO KNOW THAT EVERYONE HERE REALLY LIKES YOUR CLASSES, EVEN DRACO MALFOY EVEN THOUGH HE WOULD NEVER PUBLICALLY ADMIT IT._ _SINCERELY, A SLYTHERIN."_

The blonde haired boy was nowhere to be found in breakfast that morning. Lupin looked incredibly surprised, along with Snape himself. None of the Slytherins volunteered information on who had sent the letter. Harry had a sneaking suspicion that it was Malfoy himself, but decided to let it be.

* * *

Wednesday morning's Howler arrived right on time with the rest of the mail. 

Lupin looked at it warily, poking it with his wand to open it. 

_"DEAR PROFESSOR LUPIN, THANK YOU FOR BEING SUCH A COOL TEACHER AND LETTING US FIND OUT NEW THINGS IN YOUR CLASS EVEN IF IT'S NOT ALWAYS CURRICULUM-SANCTIONED. ALSO THANK YOU FOR THE CHOCOLATE, IT'S REALLY GOOD AND WE'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT BRAND IT IS. YOUR CHOCOLATE IS THE BEST._   
_SINCERELY, A RAVENCLAW."_

Lupin folded the letter into his pocket like he had with the last two, looking nearly as red as the Howler itself. 

"It's… uh… Willy Wonka's chocolate," he said, his voice ringing in the silent Hall.

"I _love_ his chocolate!" Someone called out. Lupin smiled shyly.

Fred and George nodded solemnly as conversation returned. "Willy Wonka…"

"…One of our inspirations."

Harry laughed as they told him the story of the wizard who had gone on to make some of the best magical and non-magical candy out there. In turn, nobody except the muggleborn students believed him when he said there were muggle films about him!

* * *

The next morning had Lupin looking like he was about to stop coming to breakfast, but Harry was glad that he didn't, since he enjoyed seeing the pink on his professor's face at the compliments given to him at breakfast. This time there were three Howlers waiting for him, each opening after the other. One even contained candy- Reeses, from what Harry could tell. All three took their time in showering the professor with compliments.

After the Howlers were done, Lupin folded them into his pocket as he always did and addressed the students in front of him. 

"I really appreciate the thoughts," he said, "but could you _please_ stop putting them into Howlers?"

* * *

"Harry," Remus said a tad desperately after class one day, "Do you know the people sending me so many letters?"

"No." Yes, he did, but it was... probably fine.

"Could you ask them to stop putting their compliments into Howlers?" Remus asked him. "I know you know, Harry, I heard that Ravenclaw asking Hermione if her spell had worked."

"How- how'd you know that?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"Wolves have much sharper senses of hearing," Remus explained, packing his bag. "The Howlers- while I appreciate them- do not do much for my ears."

Harry nodded. "I'll see what I can do, Professor."

* * *

Rumor had it at the end of the day that Lupin literally could not go ten minutes without receiving a compliment about himself yelled into his ear. Things like, "you're really cool don't let them get you down" and "That bitch Gilderoy Lockheart has nothing on you" could be heard.

(Since none of the letters were addressed with names, nobody could take points from anyone for using what McGonagall called 'foul language'. When asked what exactly the foul language was, she said smartly, "Words like 'Gilderoy Lockheart' will not be tolerated within the walls of Hogwarts!")

Poor Lupin was looking more nervous now, throwing glances over his shoulder every few minutes in order to look for any incoming Howlers. Multiple students from each House had all given Lupin a reason they enjoyed his class or his company, and the poor man was really beginning to wonder when this all would be done. And also, where the Howlers that existed purely to yell at him had gone. 

Harry himself had sent one to Lupin, detailing how grateful he was that Lupin had been 'so patient with him learning difficult magics' last year. He purposefully did not include his name or what particular difficult magics had been learned, but he thought Lupin might have known it was from him anyway.

At dinner that night, Lupin was late, but he showed up and slipped into his seat without much fuss. Dumbledore greeted him and continued talking to Professor McGonagall, and Lupin devoured his nearly raw steak with vigor. No letters came during dinner- to everyone's relief- but McGonagall had no qualms about inviting the Headmaster to breakfast the next morning (as he usually did not attend) to view the spectacle that was now a common occurrence of Remus Lupin's Love Letters.

Remus did not appear to hear their conversation as he ate, but Harry knew better.

* * *

Friday morning even before breakfast, anyone walking by Lupin's classroom could easily hear the multitudes of wonderful things being shouted about him. Lupin himself showed up to breakfast later than he normally did at eight rather than seven-thirty, but once Dumbledore showed up, everyone knew that it was about to get even better.

Lupin stopped just inside the doorway to the Great Hall, dread filling him as he spotted the aging wizard he hoped would not come to breakfast.

"Professor Lupin!" Dumbledore called, making it clear to everyone that he intended to view this spectacle for himself. "Do come in. Pumpkin juice?"

"Erm. No- no thanks," Lupin stuttered, sitting down rather reluctantly in the chair pulled out by the Headmaster. 

"How are you this morning, Remus?" Dumbledore asked as he munched on a cinnamon roll.

"Fine, thanks," he mumbled. 

"Glad to hear it, dear boy. I thought it was time I made an appearance to breakfast myself one of these days, and it's a fine day to do it, don't you think?" Dumbledore appeared to not catch his former student's discomfort, instead electing to make himself a bowl of cereal by pouring the milk into the bowl first.

Remus made a noncommittal noise, electing to have some chocolate croissants instead. Dumbledore continued on talking, making no hint of what they all knew was coming.

And right on time at 8:30, the owl chute opened and students got packages, as well as the lone teacher. Remus had stood and was halfway to the door when the Howler dropped right into his hands.

The Great Hall stilled. The owls landed and watched Remus as the letter began to shake. Dumbledore put his cereal straw down and put his full attention onto Remus. 

_"Silencio,"_ Remus tried as a very last result, but a casual wave of Dumbledore's hand cancelled the spell. Remus glared at him, but the old wizard pretended he had done nothing wrong.

"To my information," Dumbledore said calmly with the barest hint of mischievousness, "Howlers get louder the longer you refuse to open them."

Remus' glare intensified, but the moment he went to open the letter, it exploded, saving him the effort. Harry at the Gryffindor table cringed, knowing Remus would likely have to bother Snape for some more potions that could help cure burn marks.

 _"DEAR MOONY,"_ the letter began, and Remus' face took on a horrified look, draining itself of all color. Harry looked quickly towards Dumbledore, who was the only other one (and perhaps McGonagall) who know what Moony meant besides Harry and his friends.

_"IT'S BEEN BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION THAT YOU THINK YOU DESERVE THOSE COMMENTS FROM THOSE OVER-COMPLICATED, TRY-HARD WIZARD PARENTS WHO ONLY HOPE THEY COULD BE HALF THE MAN YOU ARE. I'M SENDING THIS LETTER TO TELL YOU THAT WHAT THEY SAY IS NOT TRUE. YOU'RE AN AMAZING WIZARD AND AN EVEN BETTER WEREWOLF. YOU ARE A GODDAMN INSPIRATION TO US ALL. MY GOD, MOONY, YOU ARE THE BEST FRIEND A MAN COULD ASK FOR AND I'LL HEX EVERY SINGLE WITCH OR WIZARD THAT SAYS YOU'RE NOT WORTH LOVING OR WHATEVER THEY SAY."_

The letter turned to Snape, who was doing his best to sulk into his bowl of Cheerios.

_"THAT GOES FOR YOU TOO, SNIVELLUS."_

The letter turned back to Lupin, leaving Snape red as the letter itself and snarling like a werewolf.

_"ANYWAY I HOPE THIS CHEERS YOU UP. GIVE MY REGARDS TO OUR GODSON."_

The Howler dropped back into Lupin's hands without addressing who it was from, though Harry knew Lupin knew it was from Sirius. The man himself looked like he was about to fall over from embarrassment and didn't even put up a fight when Snape shoved past him. The Great Hall burst into both whispering and laughter, and Dumbledore looked like he was going to have a fit.

Remus took the entire next week off to hide in his rooms, and if anyone noticed it wasn't the full moon, well, they didn't say anything.

* * *

The next week, rumors were flying that even Dumbledore had sent Remus a letter, but the excitement had worn off. Lupin was back to silencing charms but would still make an effort to thank the students sitting at breakfast after each letter. They'd begun to lump together in one big group - save the times people like Draco Malfoy came in - so Lupin would nod his head to them all and publicly thank the Ravenclaws, or whoever had sent the newest letter.

It was hard to believe most of a month had gone by with Lupin receiving unending letters telling him all the good things about himself. But it came to a close one fateful day in the hall during passing period, with an owl swooping low and depositing the letter squarely on Lupin's head. 

The students, used to this by now, did not stop their wanderings throughout the hall- that is, until the Howler exploded and its words made everyone turn and look at the werewolf who had not had the time to cast a silencing charm. 

This letter did not begin with the cordial 'Dear Professor Lupin'. It did not end with an anonymous student saying which house they were from. No. This letter was different.

The Howler opened its mouth and began to scream.

_"YOU HAVE A CUTE ASS. TEN OUTTA TEN WOULD BANG."_

It dropped. The hallway stilled.

Remus' face was red. Redder than Harry had ever seen it. 

They all watched as Lupin Banished the Howler, the first one that had earned that treatment since the very beginning of term. The raggedy man hurried away, keeping his head down and disappearing into his classroom amid the whispers of 'well whoever wrote it isn't wrong!"

He was not seen later that day, nor was he seen at dinner when Dumbledore stood up in front of the entire Great Hall and announced:

"Effective today, students are no longer allowed to send Howlers to teachers!"

**Author's Note:**

> I saw a prompt for this story and I just thought it was too cute not to write about! Also yes, Harry does know that Remus and Sirius think of him as 'their' godson and he's chill with it.  
> Also it's my headcanon that Howlers kind of explode if you don't open them, so Remus got a little burned, poor baby :(


End file.
